At PCP, we love teamwork! In order to encourage this at work and play, we group our children into House Teams from Reception upwards. Children can earn house points for positive behaviours linked to our core values, such as: respect, responsibility, resilience and co-operation. During sports activities and House competitions, children can also earn points for great sportsmanship and determination.
Behaviour and sporting house points are combined and totalled each week. Weekly House winners are announced in Friday’s celebration assembly.
House points are converted into house potions for each team. The House Captains pour in the potion their team has earned. This accumulates over each half term; at the end of each half term, a winning house team is announced. They will be rewarded with a special prize!
We believe that visual rewards such as the coloured potion bottles help our younger learners to understand the power of teamwork and can strengthen cross-phase bonds. House Team Captains, Vice-Captains and monitors help to lead their teams by playing a part in assemblies and helping children from all classes, especially during playtimes. In order to be appointed, each member of the team must write a letter of application, stating why they are suited to the job.
House Teams
Each ‘House’ is lead by a House captain, a Vice-Captain and two House Monitors. House Captains help in assembly every Wednesday and Friday and have roles which include being responsible for the ICT, giving certificates and badges to other children and helping to lead celebrations.
As these are important and popular roles in our school, there is a rigorous application process which links to the real world of work. This takes place in June each year, when the applications open for Y5. The current House Captains play an important part in selecting who will inherit their roles.
House Team Parties
At the end of every half term, the house potions are measured and the winner is announced. The whole team joins together for a ‘house party’. Treats can be brought in, with a game or toy and the children from across the school come together to celebrate as a team.
We dance to the winning theme tune: 99 Red Balloons, Yellow Submarine, Green Door or Blue Suede Shoes!
This is what our House Team Leaders think is important…
Our House Team Leaders are going from strength to strength. They love taking on extra responsibilities to support others around school.
An opportunity to lead assemblies
It is important for our House Teams to take on some extra responsibility and use their voices to bring the school together. Assemblies are an opportunity for this to happen. During this assembly, for example, the House Captains shared their understanding of the school values based on what they had seen around school. Cai, Nieve, Fyfe and Laura made an iMovie and wrote a quiz as well as choosing the intro music and leading brilliantly – with great ‘assembly voices’! The rest of the school loved it and thought they did really well.
An opportunity to report on school news
Every year, one of the half-termly newsletters is researched and written by the four House Captains. This is a big piece of work and it requires good time management and organisational skills to meet the deadline. However, they seem to enjoy working under pressure!
Lunchtime Responsibilities
An important role for our House Teams is that of lunchtime support for the lunch staff. We can see our older children grow in confidence as they help to organise games for the younger ones.
